- Connecticut is a little state with big heart.

You know its most iconic spots, but what about the lesser known finds waiting to be discovered?

Let's explore a few local wonders you might not know about until now.

With support from CT Visit, join me to uncover Connecticut's Hidden Gems.

Hi there.

I'm from Francesca Fontanez, host of "Connecticut's Hidden Gems."

The series was initially made for our social audiences, but we had such a wonderful time and learned so much we decided to share it with you too.

I'm going to share a few insights on the making of each episode as we go along.

So let's jump in.

And we'll start in the center of the state.

Middlesex County, known as a vibrant region with dozens of attractions, choosing just three hidden gems to highlight was a challenge.

The first stop, though this episode's foodie find was an absolute must feature.

The Nest Coffee House in Deep River is a casual cafe that provides job opportunities for all regardless of neurodiversity.

We caught up with Jane Moen, founder of A Little Compassion and current board member to learn more about this unique space.

- The Nest is a pretty special place.

It was designed to be a safe place or a soft place to land for everyone, but the hidden agenda was to be sure it was a safe place for those who are neurodivergent and have a place they can come in their own community.

So we're in a small town, small towns where these folks live, and we wanted them to be able to have that safe place here.

All of our baristas that work in the Nest Coffee House are neurodivergent.

By coming here and being part of this community, you're also part of that solution to create inclusion.

If someone is placing their order and our baristas having a hard time, somebody behind the counter is gonna be like, "It's okay," you know, and take care of our barista, but also if needed, talk to our customer about what their experience was.

So the mission is not just our staff doing the work, it's the people who are part of coming to the place, our part of our work too, and I think everybody gets changed for the better.

- [Francesca] After a lovely lunch at the Nest, we headed to our outdoor adventure.

The town of Portland got very creative when they revitalized their historic brownstone quarries in an unexpected way.

Brownstone Adventure Sports Park, once a staple in the town's quarry works and construction industry is now delighting visitors as a massive recreational water park from navigating water obstacles to rock climbing and even gliding down one of the park's 11 zip lines, this thrilling experience is fun for all ages.

Never one to turn down an adrenaline rush, I wanted to get the full experience of a brownstone quarry visit and took to the zip lines.

(bright music) Whoo!

(laughs) - [Ayana] When zip lining.

How do you feel?

- That was so exhilarating.

I feel like a kid.

(laughs) It was super fun.

That view, that 360 view of the whole park.

I like wanna go again.

Should we go again?

- Yeah.

- Come on, Ayana.

Your turn.

- [Ayana] I mean.

- After drying off in a costume change, we decided to beat the heat at our indoor adventure just up the road.

The Main Street market is a mall that features unique shops and eateries as well as locally owned businesses.

It proves to be a diverse lifestyle hub that serves as a great place for shopping, dining, and relaxing.

I'm like emotional smelling this candle.

It smells like December.

Thanks a lot, Middlesex County.

No matter how you slice it, you're a real splash.

(bright music) The day we filmed Middlesex County, it was super hot, so gliding into that refreshing water at Brownstone Quarry was super appreciated.

Speaking of gliding, did you know that Connecticut is home to the largest indoor ropes course?

Well, let me not give too much away.

New Haven County.

A bustling land of sparkling shorelines, a thriving cultural scene, and home to countless adventures.

We are heading to a unique indoor adventure tucked inside an unlikely location.

In the back of Jordan's Furniture in New Haven, the It Adventure Ropes Course built as the world's largest indoor ropes course, awaits thrill seekers of all ages.

We caught up with Team Lead, Camila Letriz to learn more.

- People come here to enjoy our four levels of over 100 obstacle courses.

We also have four zip lines, as well as a little course for smaller children and four climbing walls.

We start by harnessing them up, then we clip them onto the course.

We tell them the rules before they go up, and once they're up there, they just bring the rope with them and they kind of follow their own path.

Our water show actually sinks up to this playlist that we have and it's really cool.

If you go on our third floor zip line on one of the sides, you can actually get wet if the water goes high enough.

- After an informative pre rope session and testing the gear, it was time to give the course a try.

The full body harness and sling keeps ropes course navigators connected at all times while exploring the challenges.

From crisscross angle rope ladders, zigzag swinging beams, cargo nets, bridges, and more, this athletic adventure does not disappoint.

While in the Elm City, we decided to pay a visit to the unsung hero of New Haven's food scene.

The Long Wharf Food Trucks, also known as Food Truck Paradise.

This casual collection of food trucks serving mostly Latin American Eats is a literal hidden gem the way it's tucked off the highway by the shoreline.

With a lovely view of the New Haven Harbor, the team decided to take a lunch break.

After Cubano and elote, it was time to head to the beach, or should I say to the beaches.

New Haven County boasts the most public beaches of any county in the state.

Some do require parking fees like Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary.

This beach serves as a migratory route for some of the most endangered bird species in the region.

Another great free-ish beach is Sea Bluff Beach, one of West Haven's largest.

This spot includes a little park with paved walkways, great views and good vibes, but the star of the New Haven County Beach scene has to be Silver Sand State Park.

This spot is completely free to visit for Connecticut residents and features, beaches, boardwalks, and a sandbar connecting the park to the allegedly haunted Charles Island.

Silver Sands sits along over half a mile of shoreline and hosts thousands of visitors annually.

Thanks, New Haven County.

Your stunning shorelines and vibrant adventures truly never disappoint.

I know we forgot to include Hammonasset in that last one, but maybe there will be a "Connecticut's Hidden Gem Season 2."

For this next episode, we had a really interesting time navigating the shoot date since we had locked it in well in advance, and when the time came to go out, there was rain in the forecast.

I went to the team intern and said, "Listen, this is just Connecticut.

It's real, and I think our audience will appreciate real."

Let's take a watch.

Fairfield County, known for its sophistication, scenic coastline, and diverse recreational culture, we are diving right into our indoor adventure in Norwalk.

(calm music) We took to the Maritime Aquarium and caught up with President and CEO Jason Patlis to get the inside scoop.

- What people get to enjoy when they come is a taste of what's under the surface of the ocean, and especially what's here in Long Island Sound.

We've got about 300 species, 7,500 animals that you can see an education leader or a conservation leader, as well as a really great attraction to come and visit.

We like to call ourselves an aquarium without walls.

We've got touch tanks, we've got interactive experiences.

You could see the harbor seals behind us.

You could touch sturgeon, you could touch jellies, you could touch stingrays and sharks, and that's what makes us so special and that's what people can really enjoy when they come to visit us.

(calm music) - After our marvelous marine moment, we decided to embrace Connecticut's unpredictable weather and headed for a soggy afternoon in Stanford.

(calm music) The Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens feature 93 acres of Parkland, curated gardens, and hiking trails.

This peaceful oasis is free to the public and open year round.

Here, visitors of all ages can connect with nature, rain, or shine.

For over a century, this ecological wonder has quietly enchanted Fairfield County and beyond.

(calm music) Next up, a foodie challenge.

We were on the hunt for seafood on a budget, and Mr.

Crab Seafood and Bar did not disappoint.

This nautical themed seafood spot had so many meal options and even featured a budget-friendly lunch menu.

Here, we grabbed a quick bite and left with full bellies and happy wallets.

Thanks, Fairfield County.

Your multifaceted ways are always lovely rain or shine.

It didn't rain on our parade too much.

In this next episode, you'll learn about a couple spots that will feed your appetite for adventure.

Known for its natural beauty and rich history, this community is a great place for outdoor enthusiasts to connect with nature.

Our adventure starts in Somers.

Here we are in Shenipsit State Forest.

We are heading to Soapstone Mountain.

From that summit, we can see four states, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

We drove up this path that you can see behind me and from here, it's gonna be about a 300 foot walk to get to the top, let's go.

We trekked up the main trail from the parking area past a large structure in search of the Soapstone Mountain Observation Tower.

After a very manageable walk, we found the structure.

Let's go check it out.

There was originally a fire tower built here, but today this place is home to a large overlook, specifically for the public's recreational viewing.

At the top, we were pleased to see all four states we were looking for.

I don't know if you'll be able to see it on camera, but you can see all four states, which is awesome.

And at the top this tells us we're looking at, of course, North Central Connecticut, Western Mass, and then some peaks in New Hampshire and Vermont.

Very exciting.

(bright music) A great post nature foodie find is the Traveler Restaurant in Union, a literature lover's paradise.

Here, diners can choose up to three free books from any of the dining room shelves or they can pop downstairs to check out the meticulously organized bookstore.

Restaurant manager Chris Mitta took us downstairs to learn more about travelers.

- Every day is kinda different.

I don't really know what to expect.

I like when I'm sitting out eating lunch and you know people are walking by looking at books and maybe you start a conversation with them or they start a conversation with you and just kind of meet new people that way.

We live in a such a fast paced world right now where especially driving down the highway, it's just full of fast food restaurants and cookie cutter chain restaurants.

And this is a very unique place that you can come have a good meal, find an interesting book.

There's just no place like it.

- After a great meal and choosing our road reads, it was time to head over to our indoor adventure.

We took to Ron-a-Roll in Vernon, a recreational community hub that has hosted thousands of visitors over the course of 35 years.

This 14,040 square foot beech wood skating rink is fun for all ages and skater levels.

This was our first time visiting, but surely won't be our last.

Thanks a lot, Tolland County.

Your quiet quality with a few fabulous finds has us totally charmed.

For this next feature, we headed to Old Wethersfield to check out their annual bikes on Main in the month of May.

What's cool though is that if you're watching this a little closer to fall, they have a similar event in October, but it's featuring scarecrows.

Keep that in mind as you watch.

Hartford County, home to the capital city, vibrant communities and dozens of hidden gems waiting to be explored.

For our outdoor adventure, let's check out one of the loveliest streets in the state.

We are here in Old Wethersfield.

Let's learn about Bikes on Main.

We caught up with Julia Koulouris and Kathy Clarke, who are local business owners and members of the Old Wethersfield Shopkeepers Association.

They gave us the inside scoop on this town's annual Bicycles on Main.

- May is National Bicycle Month.

And it was towards the end of COVID and we were looking for something that was really open and community-friendly.

And so the shopkeepers had the idea along with Bike Walk Wethersfield and the Bike Karma to kind of showcase bicycles and how bicycle-friendly our community is.

And the bicycles all up and down Main Street are decorated by local organizations, businesses, youth groups, individuals, really anyone that wants to express anything on Main Street, they're more than welcome.

- This year, we won the award for being a bicycle-friendly community.

It's in conjunction with the Bike Walk Wethersfield.

They just recognize different communities across the country for how bicycle-friendly they are.

We love to support people getting outside, getting some exercise, and all these events that we do that are outside like the scarecrows and the Bicycles on Main, it's all for that.

It's like, get outside, get some fresh air, visit the shops, enjoy yourself.

See the pretty bikes, they're just decorated.

So cool.

This year, there's so many different themes and really cool color schemes and flowers.

It's just such a fun walk.

- Since Main Street Wethersfield is so bike-friendly.

Let's go for a spin.

Oh.

(laughs) (bright music) For our foodie find, let's head over to the Assembly Room in Hard Hittin' New Britain.

This industrial chic food hall offers a unique culinary experience with five eateries, including a bar and cafe.

It's a really cool third space with really yummy eats.

For our indoor adventure, when it comes to Hartford County, there are dozens of hidden gems.

It's hard to choose just one to highlight.

From the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut, which traces the development of electronic communications over the years, to the Museum of Curiosities, one of the oldest museums in the country.

To the Stowe Center for Literary Activism, a museum that encourages social justice and literary activism by exploring the legacy of Harriet Beecher Stowe and beyond, Hartford County has got it going on.

Ultimately, we decided to spend an afternoon at the Connecticut Trolley Museum, the oldest incorporated museum dedicated to electric railroading and United States.

To learn more, we caught up with volunteer motorman, Chas Gross.

- As a museum, I think we offer something that many other attractions don't offer.

Every museum has a some something to show a look back into the past.

With us, though, we're a place where history moves you.

You're actually getting on something that's 120 years old and going through a place where 120 years ago, trolleys were actually operating.

So you're really part of the history here.

You're actually hearing it and seeing it and feeling it, and, it's a very, I think, very vibrant experience for people that haven't been here before.

And it's really for people of all ages.

Of course, the little kids just light up and we let them toot the horn and ring the bell and, you know, it becomes a really memorable experience for them too.

Connecticut has such a deep, long past history with so many and there's so many things to see here between mystic by the Seashore and us here in East Windsor.

I mean, there's just so many different things to see.

Never mind the art museums in Hartford.

I just encourage people to get out and come and visit museums.

Pick one, whether it's us or somebody else.

We welcome visitors of all ages to come and spend an afternoon with us.

Get a chance to know the history a little bit.

(gentle music) (horn honks) - Thanks, Hartford County.

We're very grateful for our capital city county all year round.

It really was so hard to pick just a few museums to highlight for that last one.

This next piece though has quirky written all over it.

And isn't that so Connecticut?

Unique, eclectic, kinda hard to define simply/ Let's take a watch.

For our outdoor adventure, we are here in Willimantic.

We came to check out the iconic Frog Bridge, but we had to explore the downtown too.

This is an arts and culture hub.

Let's go see.

Willimantic Downtown is a place where arts, business and education meet, creating a culture of entertainment and recreation.

It's a must visit if you're in the area.

Here we are at the Frog Bridge, also known as the thread city crossing.

This is an homage to a bizarre and whimsical folk tale.

One particularly hot night in 1754, there was a horrible sound of cacophony that awoke the locals.

the local militia decided To join together to defend their city from whatever was making that horrible noise.

As it turned out in the morning, they found out the cause of the horrible noise was a very tragic scene.

Countless frogs had died from that particularly hot night, but this bizarre and humorous event, it became cemented in local door.

That lives on in the architecture, as you can see, and in the community.

Up the road and back in time, our foodie find awaits.

Aero Diner, manufactured in 1958, is a historic diner that's been moved, renamed, and refurbished over the years.

Although there's no instruction manual on how to restore a '50s diner, every effort was made in the restoration process to return it to its original condition.

Making for a great foodie find before we shifted gears to our indoor activity.

The Bradley Playhouse is a former vaudeville theater that has served the community for decades.

We caught up with Tonya Brock, president of the Bradley Board of Directors who gave us a tour and filled us in on the wonder of this theater.

- I've been involved here for almost 40 years, so there's a ton of history that I could certainly share.

This theater was completed in 1901 by Ransom Bradley.

This place has been through a lot and the fact that it's still standing is quite a miracle in and of itself.

It's been through three fires and it's still standing.

But I think the most important thing about the Bradley is the community of people that we have created here.

There's an enormous amount of talent in Northeastern Connecticut and the surrounding region, and we have this beautiful and you know, amazing historic space that people can work in and people are just drawn to it.

You walk in here and you can just feel the history of the place.

(gentle music) - Thanks, Windham County.

We're really sorry about the frogs, but we like your style.

(playful music) Litchfield County is one of Connecticut's more better known regions, but we wanted to explore the roads less traveled by.

Litchfield County, a rural community that's known to charm daytrippers with picturesque towns, rolling hills and more.

We wanted to see parts of Litchfield County less traveled by so we took to Action Wildlife Foundation for a ride on the wild side.

This wildlife sanctuary in Goshen is home to over 350 exotic animals, a petting zoo museum and more.

We caught up with Heidi Jespersen who runs Action Wildlife alongside her husband, Chase.

She told us about the layout and mission of the sanctuary and praised her team's dedication to research and sustainability, highlighting their success and creating an ecologically balanced space where different species coexist in their drive through safari area.

After a quick chat, we poked around the museum before heading out to explore.

There's something very unique and exciting about seeing species that you wouldn't normally see in New England right here in Connecticut.

When they do the hayrides, they actually take the visitors inside.

This enclosure that you're seeing here.

For today, we're just driving around.

The petting zoo was especially fabulous.

I have my quarter ready to go.

There you go.

After our safari fun, we decided to head over to Gresczyk Farms in New Hartford for our foodie find.

Established in 1980, this family-owned and operated farm has been a true Litchfield County community gem.

Boasting, 130 acres of vegetables, 600 laying chickens and other products.

Their farm store is jam packed with local delights.

For a Litchfield County indoor adventure, we recommend the Institute for American Indian Studies.

This museum and research center is dedicated to preserving and sharing the culture and history of Native American peoples, particularly those from the northeastern woodlands.

We caught up with Darlene Casa, educational outreach ambassador and member of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation to get the inside scoop.

- We're a small museum, but we're packed with a lot of knowledge.

For example, our Connecticut exhibit walks you through Connecticut's indigenous history for 12,000 years.

Talking about the different changes that happened, you know, due to climate change, new technologies, and then contact with, you know, new cultures.

So there's a wealth of knowledge in that one, you know, exhibit alone.

Stuff that people really didn't know before.

They often say, "Why didn't I learn this in school?"

Well, we're out there teaching it in schools now.

- [Francesca] We took a tour at the museum and Darlene was an excellent and informative guide.

- So if I wanted to protect my child, if they were out in the woods gathering firewood, and it's bear season, I would put this on their head.

- Oh, now I'm a skunk.

(laughs) - And a bear from far away is gonna see that and say, "I'm not going anywhere near that thing."

- Thanks, Litchfield County.

You serve as a gorgeous home to many one of a kind unexpected wonders, and for that, we're grateful.

Last up, but certainly not least, New London County.

From coastal communities to farming finds, you never know what hidden gems await.

New London County.

Nestled along the southeastern shoreline of Connecticut, this fascinating region features a mix of farmland, urban communities, and everything in between.

We are starting this adventure off at Six Paca farm, a working and breeding alpaca farm that features guided tours and plenty of opportunities to mingle with the fibrous friends who fun fact, are all named after a beer or brewery.

Get it?

Six-pack-a?

Moving on.

Six Paca farm also has a fiber processing mill where the team processes roving or yarn right in Bozrah.

Joe Christina, the Six Paca farm manager, took us on a behind the scenes tour of their award-winning yarn producing mill and their gift shop.

- Yes, it would go in flat, but with the air jets blowing it and then this belt twisting it, it makes it into a loose rope.

(bright music) - Our next adventure leads us to New London's Black Heritage Trail.

These 15 sites celebrate three centuries of Black strength, resilience, and accomplishment.

We paid a visit to a few extremely inspiring landmarks on the trail and learned about some lesser known state history from each of the plaques.

So you can follow this map to see the whole.

(gentle music) Our foodie find for this episode is a tour day ice cream moment.

New London has so many ice cream shops.

From family-owned Cowlick's Creamery to Blue Heron Creamery.

But ultimately, we set our sights on Michael's Dairy, which has been serving up creamy goodness for over 80 years.

This is a true hidden gem.

(bright music) We grabbed a couple scoops and reflected on the wrap of this season's "Connecticut's Hidden Gem" series.

Thanks, New London County.

From delicious delicacies that have delighted for decades to the rural and rustic back road finds, you never disappoint.

Connecticut as a whole is bustling with whimsical wonders.

No matter where you go across the nutmeg state, you know there's fun to be found around every single corner.

There's so much to see in our little state with big heart.

Make sure you follow Connecticut Public on any social media platforms.

I'm Francesca Fontanez with Connecticut Public.

Stay Curious.

(bright music)